Jesse R Lasky
Update: A recent shoulder injury is threatening my Chippendale's career. Please call ahead to confirm show times before arriving.
Education:
Boston University Tropical Ecology Program in Ecuador, 2002
A.B., Kenyon College, 2004
Santa Fe Institute Summer School in Complex Systems, Bariloche, Argentina, 2008
PhD Candidate, University of Texas at Austin, 2006-
Publications:
Lasky JR, Jetz W, and Keitt TH. Submitted to Journal of Biogeography. Biogeography of the U.S.-Mexico border and its dispersal barriers.
Lasky JR and Keitt TH. (In press). Abundance of Panamanian dry forest birds along gradients of forest cover at multiple scales. Journal of Tropical Ecology.
Pinto N, Lasky JR, Bueno R, Galetti M, Keitt TH. 2008. Primate
densities in the Brazilian Atlantic forest: the role of habitat quality
and anthropogenic disturbance. In South American Primates: Comparative Perspectives in the Study of Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation. Garber PA, Estrada A, Bicca-Marques JC, Heymann EW, Strier KB (Editors). Springer.
Bonaccorso FJ, Winkelmann JR, Shin D, Agrawal CI, Aslami N, Bonney C,
Hsu A, Jekielek PE, Knox AK, Kopack SJ, Jennings TD, Lasky JR, Menesale
SA, Richards JH, Rutland JA, Sessa AK, Zhaurova L, and Kunz TH. 2007.
Evidence for exploitative competition: comparing foraging behavior and
roosting ecology of short-tailed fruit bats (Phyllostomidae: Carollia).
Biotropica 39:249-256.
Tieleman BI, Dijkstra TH, Lasky JR, Mauck RA, Visser GH, Williams JB.
2006. Physiological and behavioral correlates of life-history
variation: a comparison between tropical and temperate zone house
wrens. Functional Ecology 20:491-499.
Research:
Biogeography of the U.S.-Mexico border and its dispersal barriers
The border fence and border anthropogenic landscapes represent serious challenges to dispersal for many animals. I used biogeographical patterns along the border to identify species potentially threatened by 1) potential extensive border barriers in the future and 2) current border barriers. I then identified regions rich in such potentially threatened species.
The figure at right shows levels of regional species richness in a sliding window (r = 50km) across the transboundary region. Only species found along the border are considered. Blue shows the locations of pedestrian fences. Dotted lines are representative species ranges potentially divided by border barriers
Estimating dispersal limitation in community assembly in tropical forest tree communities
I am working on developing statistical models to test the importance of dispersal limitation and environmental limitation as processes that structure tree communities. I hope to use the BCI plot dataset and data that I will collect in secondary forests in Amazonian Brazil.
The effects of landscape structure on the movements of edge frugivores and seed rain
In eastern Amazonian rainforest fragments I am studying how spatial structure of vegetation affects the movement of avian frugivore species that forage at the edge of primary forests and in neighboring open habitats. Seed input into secondary growth can be limiting to forest succession, and the spatial distribution of frugivore dispersers is likely correlated to the spatial distribution of the seeds they deposit. This work is being conducted at the Fazenda São Marcos, near Aurora in the state of Pará. Support for this project comes from the Brazil Center and the department of Ecology Evolution and Behavior at the University of Texas at Austin, and from Tarcísio Meira, owner of Fazenda São Marcos.
Abundance of Panamanian dry forest birds along gradients of forest cover at multiple scales.
More on this project.